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Comment by Apocryphon | Hacker News Reader

When I think of NZ, I imagine South Pacific beaches, lush forests of emu and kiwi and other exotic animals, and the landscape of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

What natural beauty does Tulsa have?

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You're selling Tulsa short - it has the same number of wild emus as NZ does.

Hilarious!

There are no emu here, you're thinking of Australia. And Kiwi are both endangered and nocturnal. We have, really, nothing exotic at all apart from Tui's (that are awesome), Kereru (a huge wood pigeon) and Kea's (that are bastards).

I was thinking of moa, as the other comment mentioned.

kea are endangered aren't they?

Smart parrots though.

Kaka are also an amazing parrot that are less bastardly and much more accessible (just go to Wellington)

If you end up in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch you could be just in another big city anywhere in the world, you may be within an hour or twos drive of some of the above descriptors but you wont be looking out of your home or office window at them unless you can drop a million dollars on a house. Get real guys.

Here's a photo of Wellington I took while commuting to work on my mountain bike. Trail head is 2mins from my office...

https://goo.gl/photos/9AQWmraCss6U9uVp7

If you're in into biking, or windsurfing Wellington is definitely a stunning place to live.

[edit] Also since everybody is talking about emus, this trail is actually called barking emu. But it is misnamed - since it's actually an Ostrich in the paddock up there.

Ostriches... is that up by that bizarre castle house that's been turned into a dog kennel?

Wouldn't the commute home be a bit tough on a bike?

Yes. What GP is omitting is that Wellington winters are akin to England but with a great deal more wind. In the summer, that commute is likely wonderful, but for four months of the year, it isn't.

I was thinking of a big hill climb, but obviously the wind would be a big issue too, even in summer.

Yeah, which is why there is wind/kite-surfing, as a sport for the windy days ;)

Within driving distance sounds like a good deal to me.

If you end up in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch you could be just in another big city anywhere in the world,

Calling Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch "big cities" - I could tell you were a kiwi before I even read the name!

Haha I worked in Wellington for a few months... I'd consider it a large town. Part of that is the geography, which conspires against the sprawl I'd expect from a "big city", and which is certainly a point in Wellington's favor. I haven't been there in about a decade... do grocers stay open after 5 PM yet?

Wellington does feel the most city like of anywhere in NZ. It really is a tiny city as opposed to just a very large town. Aucklands city centre is really one street, then just miles of suburbs stitched on to it.

> you wont be looking out of your home or office window at them unless you can drop a million dollars on a house.

You can in parts of Christchurch. The southern alps are visible from the university where I work (though they are a fair way off). House-wise, you're probably looking at at least NZ$500k for that view from within Christchurch, which does kind of suck.

That's not true - while not a Christchurch advocate, Sumner offers wonderful views within that price range.

Oh there are good views in lots of places in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, etc. I was specifically referring to mountains, as in the "landscape of the Lord of the Rings" the GP referred to.

Besides, Sumner doesn't seem very safe, earthquake-wise, which will be contributing to the price.

Apologies for misconstruing your comment. I had no idea about Sumner being more prone to Earthquakes; I'm genuinely glad you replied because i was flirting with a move there in a few months.

Not so much more prone to quakes, but there is more chance of slips and liquefaction. If you're moving to Chch, I'd say keep to the western half, where everything's been basically fine.

Amazing sunsets, beautiful prairie flowers, some caves. Cheap access to beef, often. Delicious peaches.

Don't knock Tulsa, it's not some hell hole.

Looks like our tourism marketing campaigns are paying off, although emus are Australian, we had moa, but they're extinct now.

Not pictured in the tourism campaigns - our vast reliance on agriculture.

Is it really a bad thing? When I see "vast reliance on agriculture", or, say, "net exporter of agricultural products", I read it as "self-sufficient country that can feed itself even in troubled times". If anything, this sort of thing might command a premium in the current environment.

No, but it's not as pretty as the stuff in LOTR. And the pollution problems caused by the massive conversion to dairy over the last 20 years is becoming a big issue - turns out New Zealanders like being able to swim in their rivers and lakes.

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